AIR-BREATHING ENGINES

Advanced Concepts

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department

Florida Institute of Technology

D. R. Kirk

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 CONTENTS AND OVERVIEW
• Review
– What did we do in this course?
• Future / Advanced Topics
– What would be covered in a graduate course in air-breathing propulsion?

• SCRAMJETS

• Rocket-Based Combined Cycle Engines (RBCC)

• Pulse Detonation Engines

• Micro Propulsion

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 REVIEW OF MAE 4261
• Review of governing equations of motion and energy
– General expressions for thrust and performance (continuity + F = d/dt(mv))

• General layout of an air-breathing engine

– Inlet, compressor, burner, turbine, nozzle

• Air-Breathing engine performance parameters

– Thrust, specific thrust, Isp, T/W, thermal, propulsive, overall efficiency
– Relate to overall airplane performance

• Cycle analysis
– Detailed examination of ideal and non-ideal Brayton cycle
– Expression for thrust, Isp, etc. for ramjets, turbojets, turbofans

• Non-Rotating components
– Inlets, nozzles, combustors, after-burners

• Energy exchange with turbomachinery

– Euler turbine equation, velocity triangles
– Implications for performance prediction and design

• Design of axial compressors and turbines

– Radial variation (twist), axial area change, degree of reaction

• Component matching
– Integrate compressor + burner + turbine on single shaft (gas generator) 3
– Usefulness of compressor and turbine maps
 FUTURE / ADVANCED TOPICS
• Compressors
– Axisymmetric Design
– Aspect Ratio, Radial changes in AR
– Blade row performance, 3-D effects, blade row interactions, performance limitations,
tip clearance and vortical flow behavior
– Instabilities: Rotating Stall and Surge

• Combustors
– More detailed design on various geometries for performance and emissions, liner and
cooling flows, advanced concepts including pre-mixed combustion for NO x reduction
– Instabilities, flame stability, turbulent flame speed, fuel control

• Turbines
– Detailed disk design
– Rotating seals
– Detailed analysis of blade heat load prediction and turbine cooling
– Flutter, vibration, fatigue, rotational dynamics and eccentricity

• Engine Matching
– 2 and 3 spool engines, include effects of variable geometry 4
COMPRESSOR PERFORMANCE LIMITATIONS
• Compressor performance is limited
by two important (and often highly
detrimental) phenomena

1. Compressor stall
– Similar to stall on airfoils
– Can also be dynamic
phenomena, called rotating
stall

2. Compressor surge
– Static and dynamic
phenomena that can lead to
violent flow oscillations inside
of device

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COMPRESSOR STALL

• Usually not all blades are stalled

• Rotating stall refers to progression around blade
annulus of stall pattern in which one or several
adjacent blade passages are instantaneously stalled
• Zones of stall rotate at about ½ engine speed
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 ENGINE SURGE: H&P SECTION 7.5
• If downstream blades are stalled may act as a throttle
– Variable mass flow ingestion capability because of variable downstream area
• Leads to stable vs. unstable dynamic response of turbomachine
• Compressor characteristics (compressor map) vs. throttle characteristics (operating line)
– IF slope of throttle line > slope of compressor line: Stable
– IF slope of throttle line < slope of compressor line: Unstable (mass flow may go to zero)

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ENGINE SURGE

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 SIMPLIFIED DYNAMIC MODEL

• Simplified representation called Moore-Greitzer model

• Reference, “The Stability of Pumping Systems – The 1980 Freeman Scholar
Lecture, Journal of Fluids Engineering, Vol. 103.
• Brilliance is in elegant simplicity of model (No CFD) 9
ROTATING STALL AND SURGE

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 HIGH CYCLE FATIGUE (HCF) IN GAS TURBINE ENGINES
• HCF results from vibratory stress cycles at frequencies
which can reach thousands of cycles per second and can be
induced from various aeromechanical sources (stall)
• Widespread phenomenon in aircraft engines that leads to
premature failure of major engine components (fans,
compressors, turbines) and in some instances has resulted
in loss of total engine and aircraft.

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WHAT IS GOING ON NOW?
• Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology
(IHPTET) program
– Advanced material developments (ceramics)
– Innovative structural designs
– Improved aerothermodynamics
– Drivers: Propulsion performance, reliability, and cost-
saving improvements

• Examples:
– Turbomachinery
• Increase operating temperature and turbine life
• Increase bearing lifetime and reduce their wear by
incorporating hydrostatic bearings (magnetic)
• Reduction in number of compressor stages
– Improved injection, mixing and combustion modeling
– High Cycle Fatigue
– Burner-Turbine-Burner-Turbine Concepts

• http://www.pr.afrl.af.mil/divisions/prt/ihptet/ihptet.html 12
 AEROENGINE CORE POWER EVOLUTION:
DEPENDENCE ON TURBINE ENTRY TEMPERATURE [Meece/Koff]

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 FUEL CONSUMPTION TREND
• U.S. airlines, hammered by soaring oil prices, will spend a
staggering $5 billion more on fuel this year or even a greater
sum, draining already thin cash reserves
• Airlines are among industries hardest hit by high oil prices

JT8D
Fuel Burn

JT9D PW4084
Future
Turbofan
PW4052

NOTE: No Numbers

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Year
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 BURNER-TURBINE-BURNER (ITB) CONCEPTS
Conventional

Intra Turbine Burner

• Improve gas turbine engine performance using an interstage turbine burner (ITB)
– With a higher specific thrust engine will be smaller and lighter
– Increasing payload
– Reduce CO2 emissions
– Reduce NOx emissions by reducing peak flame temperature
• Initially locate ITB in transition duct between high pressure turbine (HTP) and low
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pressure turbine (LPT)
 SIEMENS WESTINGHOUSE ITB CONCEPT

Tt4

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UNDERSTANDING BENEFIT FROM CYCLE ANALYSIS
From “Turbojet and Turbofan Engine Performance Increases Through Turbine Burners, by
Liu and Sirignano, JPP Vol. 17, No. 3, May-June 2001

Conventional Intra Turbine Burner

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UNDERSTANDING BENEFIT FROM CYCLE ANALYSIS
From “Turbojet and Turbofan Engine Performance Increases Through Turbine Burners, by
Liu and Sirignano, JPP Vol. 17, No. 3, May-June 2001

2 additional burners 5 additional burners

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UNDERSTANDING BENEFIT FROM CYCLE ANALYSIS
From “Turbojet and Turbofan Engine Performance Increases Through Turbine Burners, by
Liu and Sirignano, JPP Vol. 17, No. 3, May-June 2001

Continuous burning in turbine

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 MAGNETIC BEARINGS

• Magnetic bearings increase reliability

• Reduce weight of engines by eliminating lubrication system
• Increase DN2 limit on engine speed and allow active vibration cancellation systems to be used,
resulting in a more efficient, "more electric" engine
• Actively control shaft vibration, damping, improve surge and stall characteristics
• Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) program, identified a need for a
high-temperature (1200 °F) magnetic bearing
• http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT1997/5000/5930kascak.htm 20
EXOSKELETAL ENGINE CONCEPT

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 EXOSKELETAL ENGINE CONCEPT COMMENTS
NASA/TM – 2004-212621
• An innovative approach to gas turbine design involves mounting compressor and turbine
blades to an outer rotating shell → exoskeletal engine
• Compression (preferable to tension for high-temperature ceramic materials, generally)
becomes dominant blade force
• Exoskeletal engine feasibility lies in structural and mechanical design (as opposed to
cycle or aerothermodynamic design)
• Some Study Details:
– Focused on development and assessment of a structural-mechanical exoskeletal
concept using Rolls-Royce AE3007 regional airliner all-axial turbofan as a baseline
– Effort was further limited to definition of an exoskeletal high-pressure spool concept,
where major structural and thermal challenges are represented
– Mass of high-pressure spool was calculated and compared with mass of AE3007
engine components
• Exoskeletal engine rotating components can be significantly lighter than rotating
components of a conventional engine
• However, bearing technology development is required, since mass of existing
bearing systems would exceed rotating machinery mass savings
• Recommended that once bearing technology is sufficiently advanced, a "clean
sheet" preliminary design of an exoskeletal system be accomplished to better
quantify potential for exoskeletal concept to deliver benefits in mass, structural
efficiency, and cycle design flexibility. 22
 NASA's X-43A Scramjet Breaks Speed Record

• “NASA's X-43A research vehicle screamed into the record books again
Tuesday, demonstrating an air-breathing engine can fly at nearly 10 times
the speed of sound. Preliminary data from the scramjet-powered research
vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at nearly Mach
9.8, or 7,000 mph, as it flew at about 110,000 feet.”
• “NASA's X-43A scramjet program successfully smashed its own world
speed record for aircraft by flying at nearly 10 times the speed of sound.
The flight proves its radical, air-breathing engine can function at speeds
of nearly 12,000 kilometers per hour.”
• “Aviation history was made today as NASA successfully flew its
experimental X-43A research vehicle, a forerunner of craft that could well
offer alternate access to space in the future.”
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X-43 HIGHLIGHTS

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HYPER-X FLIGHT TRAJECTORY

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COMPARISON OF PROPULSION SYSTEMS

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 RAMJETS VS. SCRAMJETS
• Ramjets have a couple of important limits
1. Do not work until engine is moving at high speeds (also true for scramjets)
• Need a way to get plane moving at Mach speeds
• One way is combine ramjet and turbine engine: run turbine portion of engine
until move through air fast enough for ramjet to work efficiently
• At speed shut turbines down and let ramjet work.
2. At high speeds all temperature rise is due to deceleration
• Dissociation is dominant
• Combustion can not add any more heat to flow
3. At speeds of ~ Mach 6, air flowing into inlet is moving so quickly that it creates a
supersonic shock wave as it is compressed inside engine
• Shock wave may stop ignition of air-and-fuel mixture, shutting engine down
• Pressure and heat from shock wave tear engine to bits

• Solution is a supersonic combustion engine or scramjet

– Variation of a ramjet where combustion of fuel air mixture occurs at supersonic
speeds
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IMPACT OF HIGH SPEED FLIGHT AND DISSOCIATION
• At high Mach numbers
affect of deceleration of
flow is to produce higher
temperature than
combustion!

• Energy is ‘trapped’ in
dissociated products (H,
H2, OH, O, O2, NO, NO2,
etc.)

• Combustion is actually
cooling the flow

• How do we get around

this?
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RAMJETS VS. SCRAMJETS

Ramjet:
Physical Throat
Sub-Sonic Combustion

Scramjet:
NO Physical Throat
(Thermal Choking)
Super-Sonic Combustion

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 SCRAMJET CHALLENGES
• Engine inlet has less compression than ramjet, allowing air to speed through
engine at supersonic speeds
– Somewhat reduces shockwave problem
• When fuel is injected into onrushing air, small shock waves are created, so
combustion chamber must be able to withstand pressure
• At supersonic speeds, fuel injection and combustion must be accomplished in
milliseconds
• Making sure that fuel burns while still inside engine and not after it is ejected
from it is one of main challenges for scramjet builders

• Launching a scramjet-powered plane into orbit has huge advantages over

standard rocket-powered spacecraft
– Rockets must carry all their oxidizer with them

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EXAMPLE OF SCRAMJET EXPERIMENTAL MODEL

Combustor
Inlet
Nozzle

Cowl Isolator
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RAMJETS VS. SCRAMJETS

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DUAL-MODE OPERATION

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 LAUNCH ASSIST
Main Idea: Why waste fuel to get supersonic → launch at high speed from earth?

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 ROCKET-BASED COMBINED CYCLE (RBC2, RBC3)
• Combination of ROCKET, RAMJET and SCRAMJET
– Most efficient aspects of each form of propulsion

• Rocketdyne, Boeing Co., Pratt & Whitney, Aerojet and

NASA

• Engines completely reusable, take off and land at

airport runways, and ready to fly again within days

• By 2006 ground test version of an air-breathing rocket

engine for a next-generation hypersonic flight vehicle

• Flight-test self-powered vehicle to more than M=6,

demonstrating all modes of engine operation by end of
decade

"Air-breathing propulsion is one of the most promising concepts we've

seen for reaching NASA's future-generation spaceflight goals" 35
 RBCC: OPERATIONAL IDEAS
• KEY POINT
– Use ambient air as an oxidizer
– Compared with conventionally powered rocket vehicles significantly reduce
weight by eliminating a significant amount of its required on-board oxidizer

• PHASE 1: DUCTED ROCKET

– Innovative air-breathing rocket engine for operational vehicle would get
initial power boost from rockets in a duct that captures air
– Improves performance about 15 percent above conventional rockets

• PHASE 2: RAMJET / SCRAMJET MODES

– Once vehicle has accelerated to more than M~2, rockets are turned off and
engine relies solely on oxygen in atmosphere to burn hydrogen fuel

• PHASE 3: TRADITIONAL ROCKET

– When vehicle has accelerated to ~ 10 times the speed of sound, engine
converts to a conventional rocket-powered system to propel craft into orbit
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PDE: PULSE DETONATION ENGINE

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 HOW DOES IT WORK: IN WORDS
• Tube, closed at one end and filled with a mixture of fuel and air

• A spark ignites fuel at closed end, and a combustion reaction propagates down
the tube

• In deflagration, even in "fast flame" situations ordinarily called explosions—

that reaction moves at tens of meters per second at most

• In detonation, a supersonic shock wave slams down the tube at thousands of

meters per second, close to Mach 5, compressing and igniting fuel and air almost
instantaneously in a narrow, high-pressure, heat-release zone

• The reaction to this detonation is used to propel the vehicle

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PDE: HOW DOES IT WORK?

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 PDE: PULSE DETONATION ENGINES
• Main Idea: Detonates air/fuel mixture rather than just allowing it to
simply combust

• Constant volume combustion is more efficient than constant pressure

combustion, as demonstrated by a cycle analysis

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PULSE JET: SUBSONIC V1

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GAS TURBINE / PDE HYBRID

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WHAT DID THIS?

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PDE: AT HOME

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Isp PDE POTENTIAL

Mach Number 45
 PDE SUMMARY
• Claimed Advantages
– No moving parts
– High thermodynamic efficiency
– Operating in a potential large Mach number range (from 0 to 4-5)
– Simplicity and flexibility of geometrical configuration
– Easy integration to vehicle
– Low cost

• Key Issues / Challenges

– Detonation initiation (PDE/PDRE)
– Air inlet design (PDE)
– Fuel/air injection and mixing (PDE/PDRE)
– Coupling with external flow (PDE)
– Design optimization (PDE/PDRE)

• PDE looks attractive for special missions but is not yet totally mastered
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 MICRO PROPULSION
• Why Go So Small?
– T/W advantages
– Scalability
– Fine pointing
– Fine orbital corrections
– Constellation applications

• Traditional Manufacturing vs. MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)

• Military Applications

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MICRO TURBOMACHINERY

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 MICRO-ROCKET PROJECT
• Design complete rocket system, tanks, valves, turbomachinery, thrust chamber
• Mass production, silicon-carbide material
• Launch and orbital applications, T~ 5-15 N, Isp ~ 300 sec
• Higher T/W than Space Shuttle

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